About Me

Monday, September 18, 2017

Have you painted that 'Intimidating Figure yet'?

The Intimidating Miniture Figure? We all have one or many. You know, that miniature that you really want to paint but keep putting off because you don't think you can do it justice. We see it/them in the gaming magazines and just immediately want them. In fact you usually go ahead and buy it but then it sits in your hold bin forever as you work up the nerve or the perfect color scheme.
Often for historical wargamers it tends to be intricate shield designs, highlanders with plaid kilts or maybe that hard to do camouflague.

For Sci-Fi and Fantasy gamers it maybe geometrically painted space elves or those accursedly beautiful old Confronttion minis from France.

Sometimes it's the assemly that can be daunting. Sabrina, my wonderful painter wife, once had a Waterloo moment with this dear fellow. She almost put him away for good after he came apart the third time while being painted.

I've faced quite a few bugbears in my 35 years of gaming, ancient Greeks, Landsknect and Ottomans among them. Each force felt a daunting task but as you can see I finally put them to rest.

It just takes patience and time. The more you paint the better you will become at it. What felt impossible in your first year may seem easy as cake years later.
But here are a few tricks.
When painting armies with shields, put your first attempts in the rear ranks, newest in the front. Same with leaders, paint the rank and file first and the leaders last. Usually you'll perfect your style as you go along so the latter are often better.
Don't be afraid to ask for advice online or from local gamers. There are many old pros that are quite willing to help out. Just be aware of the style you're looking for when looking for help. Are you going for decent wargame quality to build armies or demon award quality? I learned the dry brush technique from my mentor Terry Wills years ago because my aim is large armies.
So what's your bugbear waiting to be painted?